Thanks for proving Country Cares

Photography by Biomedical Communications, January 12-15, 2017

More than a dozen country artists gathered at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on January 12-15 to participate in the annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids event, which connects celebrities with radio stations and other media outlets to help raise money for St. Jude. The event, which was created by Alabama‘s Randy Owen in 1989, to date, has raised more than $700 million dollars.

Darius Rucker, who was the recipient of the 2017 Angels Among Us Award, honoring his commitment to St. Jude, participated in the weekend’s slate of events, along with Charles Kelley, Chase Bryant, Brett Young, Love and Theft, Maddie & Tae, Cole Swindell, the Scott Brothers and many more.

Rick Shadyac, CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is grateful for country music’s long-standing relationship with the hospital; the genre’s support is unlike any other, he says. “The country music industry has embraced us in a very unique way,” Shadyac boasts. “There’s a lot of great charities out there, but the country music industry has decided they want to make a gigantic investment in this mission. And I think they know they have a tremendous impact on helping kids that have been devastated by this horrible disease, cancer. And every time they come here, I think they grow closer to us.”

Guest speaker and NBA basketball coach, George Karl, talks about his cancer battle.